Iowa strength coach is highest paid and set to make more

With a $625,000 base salary this season, Iowa’s Chris Doyle already is college football’s highest-paid public-school strength coach by $100,000 over the second-highest paid: Alabama’s Scott Cochran.

However, it is also already almost certain that Doyle will be making even more next season.

As has been the case under several iterations of head coach Kirk Ferentz’s contract — including the new version he and school officials signed in September — the pool of money used to pay Doyle and other members of the assistant coaching staff is automatically increased after each season in which the team meets certain benchmarks.

COACHING SALARIES: What FBS strength coaches are paid

Ferentz’s new deal says at least an 8% increase will occur if team wins at least seven games, plays in a bowl game and has an NCAA Graduation Success Rate of at least 67.5 in the most recent calculation period. The increase is greater if those three achievements are accompanied the Hawkeyes’ appearance in the top 25 of the final Amway Coaches or Associated Press national rankings — those published after the bowl games.

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This season, Iowa is 8-4, will be playing in the Outback Bowl and had GSR of 74 when the NCAA released figures in November. In addition, the Hawkeyes will be No. 25 in the coaches’ rankings and No. 21 in the AP’s when they play their bowl game against SEC East Division champion Florida (8-4).

If Iowa wins the bowl game, it is likely to not only remain in the national polls, but also rise. If the Hawkeyes finish ranked No. 25-No. 21, the assistant/strength coaches’ salary pool will increase by 10%. If they finish No. 20-No. 16, the pool will increase by 11%. (Under Ferentz’s contract, because of the team’s success, Doyle and an array of other Iowa football staffers also will be getting lump-sum bonuses for this season.)

DATABASE: What FBS assistant coaches are paid

Ferentz and athletics director Gary Barta will decide how much of pay increase will go to each coach paid from the pool, which covers the nine on-field assistant coaches, Doyle, the top assistant strength coach and the director of football operations.

So, a raise is not guaranteed for Doyle, whose base salary for the past few years has been the same as those for the team’s offensive and defensive coordinators. His $625,000 base salary this season is already more than 28 FBS public-school head coaches.

An 8% increase would put Doyle’s 2017-18 salary at $675,000.

An 11% increase would put it at $693,750.

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